Well, the world around Noah has to be depicted as sinfully-inclined and beyond saving, a wild enough party to be wiped out by a vengeful god (pissed off because he can't get it right, wiping the slate clean to have another go), so there is room for bloodthirsty drunken hordes of wench-clenching loincloth-wearers I guess...

This is the prurient-fun part of this genre, and always has been. Since Cecil B's epics, it's the depiction of the unsaved hedonists of Babylon etc., and their violent destruction, that puts the bums on seats, regardless of how much emphasis is put on the righteous and noble hero when it comes to press and marketing.

I'm interested in seeing what exactly attracted Aronofsky to tell this story, which I've never really liked, and which completely baffles me as to why people don't see how fucked up it is. The All-Father, the highest ideal, the maximum caretaker of humanity, decides to commit genocide and drown everyone to their deaths on the grounds of being............sinful.

That I've never heard any christian saying that story is fucked up speaks volumes to me.

Well, the world around Noah has to be depicted as sinfully-inclined and beyond saving, a wild enough party to be wiped out by a vengeful god (pissed off because he can't get it right, wiping the slate clean to have another go), so there is room for bloodthirsty drunken hordes of wench-clenching loincloth-wearers I guess...

This is the prurient-fun part of this genre, and always has been. Since Cecil B's epics, it's the depiction of the unsaved hedonists of Babylon etc., and their violent destruction, that puts the bums on seats, regardless of how much emphasis is put on the righteous and noble hero when it comes to press and marketing.

I'm interested in seeing what exactly attracted Aronofsky to tell this story, which I've never really liked, and which completely baffles me as to why people don't see how fucked up it is. The All-Father, the highest ideal, the maximum caretaker of humanity, decides to commit genocide and drown everyone to their deaths on the grounds of being............sinful.

That I've never heard any christian saying that story is fucked up speaks volumes to me.

I think a movie based on the story of Job would be more interesting. A simple, honest man of faith is put to the test after Satan bets God he can get Job to abandon his faith by tormenting him and ripping his life apart. God agrees. A truly insane series of events unfolds...

Do. It's utterly fascinating. The Coen brothers self-consciously play God in their retelling of the Book of Job.But of interest here is how God is presented (or rather, not presented) with intense and layered ambiguity. It's perfectly possible, and in my opinion preferable, that Aronofsky's Noah should witness what he interprets to be signs from above. An extra layer of ambiguity would be to make these signs geological or, I don't know what the term I'm looking for is. Signs that are not only independently plausible but also scientifically indicative of the coming flood. How wonderful it would be to see Noah as a man of science ahead of his time!

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Dr. Brooklyn wrote:

it was tying it into the rape-revenge stories and making light of a verys erious sub-genre that kind of offended me.

Do. It's utterly fascinating. The Coen brothers self-consciously play God in their retelling of the Book of Job.But of interest here is how God is presented (or rather, not presented) with intense and layered ambiguity. It's perfectly possible, and in my opinion preferable, that Aronofsky's Noah should witness what he interprets to be signs from above. An extra layer of ambiguity would be to make these signs geological or, I don't know what the term I'm looking for is. Signs that are not only independently plausible but also scientifically indicative of the coming flood. How wonderful it would be to see Noah as a man of science ahead of his time!

That would be cool... but looking at the images and thinking about Aronofsky's The Fountain... I think it's more likely to be fairly heavy on the mystic malarkey. Not to say Noah will be a fool, he has been outlined there as a mage and healer, someone who can read and interpret the signs being sent. I would anticipate some painterly slo-mo religious-awe type scenes in this one.